


When Did It Go Wrong?

by IShouldBeWriting



Category: Native American/First Nations Mythology, The X-Files
Genre: Cannibalism, Collection: Purimgifts Day 3, Gen, Mentions of actual historic events, Wendigo Psychosis, casefic, truth is stranger than fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-27
Updated: 2018-02-27
Packaged: 2019-03-24 14:09:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13812807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IShouldBeWriting/pseuds/IShouldBeWriting
Summary: Scully and Mulder investigate a case that looks like cannibalism but turns out to be something far more interesting.





	When Did It Go Wrong?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wendelah1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wendelah1/gifts).



 

“There’s evidence that suggests cannibalism could be hereditary,” Scully proposed as she stomped her way through the still falling snow behind her ever-persistent partner.

“Given the suspect being held is a direct descendant of [Swift Runner](), one of the most well known cases of wendigo psychosis, that is a possibility,” Mulder agreed. His hand rested against her lower back very briefly as pushed open the door and ushered her inside. Above their heads, an old-fashioned bell had set to jingling as the door brushed past it, alerting anyone inside of their presence. In places like as out of the way as this town was, the use of old, reliable ways of doing things hadn’t been supplanted by newer technology. No one saw any reason to replace something when the means they’d been using for decades, sometimes centuries was tried and tested.

“I talked to the coroner. He said a lot of the families on the Reservation out here haven’t been able to find jobs since an automotive factory folded about eighteen months ago. There’s a community run program, but it sounded like most people are barely making ends meet, if that. From what he said a lot of of the native families don’t have the means to put a meal on the table every night but are too proud to ask for help,” she explained grimly.

Mulder nodded his agreement as a man in the expected uniform of the local law enforcement stepped out of a back room.

“Sheriff Hadley,” Mulder nodded. “Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. The FBI Agents assigned to investigate your case of potential cannibalism.”

The sheriff gave them a respectful nod. “Nasty business that. Has the entire town and everyone on the Rez jawin’ like they’ve got a screw loose. I know thing’s been rough on the Rez of late, but Jonah’s always been a good sort. Jus’ can’ believe he’d do a thing like this.”

He led them through the door into the back where the cells were. It was a small town and none of the other holding cells were occupied. At the end of the row, a man in his mid-thirties with dark shoulder length hair stood calmly at the front of his cell looking in their direction. 

“Jonah,” the sheriff inclined his head in the man’s direction. “I’ll leave you to it.”

Scully walked up to stand opposite the cell regarding the man. 

“Jonah Whitedeer?” 

He inclined his head. 

“Before you start, you might as well know that at no point have I denied my guilt, Agent.”

Agent Scully raised her eyebrow at him. “You may not, but I do, Jonah. You see, I did some reading before I arrived and while you may have being Swift Runner’s descendent making people ready to believe you’ve committed this crime, I prefer to let your record speak for you.”

Arms crossed, Mulder stood back and let his partner have her lead. While she hadn’t discussed it with him, obviously she had prepared. 

“And what does my record say, Agent,” the man in the cell asked, wrapping his hands loosely around the bars that separated them. 

“Your record, says that you’ve never even gotten a parking ticket. You are hard working, honest, and family-oriented. And that, is the most important factor here.”

His hands tightened. 

“I don’t get your meaning, Agent.” His voice was lower than when he’d spoken before. 

“The day of your arrest, you helped take your great-grandfather to get settled in at a nursing home.”

“Yes, what of it?” 

“On your way back you visited a pawnbroker and the general store?”

“Where are you going with this?” He looked from one Federal Agent to the other. Mulder simply gestured for his partner to continue. 

“Food, Mr. Whitedeer. While the entire Reservation has been short on it, your own family included, your great-grandfather’s admission records from the nursing home suggest that, aside from his dementia, he is in remarkably good health. Including clear signs of being fed a full and well balanced diet,” Dana Scully pointedly raises an eyebrow.

“He’s our Elder. We’ve always made certain he’s well cared for,” the man inside the cell replied quickly. 

“I’ve seen your bank records. None of you have the means,” Scully shot back. “No, Mr. Whitedeer. I maintain my earlier assertion. You haven’t murdered anyone, your great-grandfather however…”

——-

“So he was covering for his great-grandfather the whole time who really is a Wendigo?” Mulder shook his head, amazed yet again by his partner’s ability to gather the facts and, when the evidence pointed to the unreal, be willing to believe in it. 

“I’m not saying he turns into some emaciated creature twice as big and twice as strong as a normal man and hunts people down in an insatiable lust for their flesh, Mulder. But yes, however the man managed it, the evidence from the coroner’s report doesn’t lie. Edmond Whitedeer’s dental pattern was a match to the marks they found on the bones of the murder victim. However he committed the crime, it was Edmond, not his great-grandson.”

Mulder glance sideways at his partner as she cinched the airplane seatbelt across her lap. 

“That still doesn’t explain how healthy and well-fed he was.”

“Mulder…”


End file.
